1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal and a method of controlling the operation thereof, in which various operations performed by the mobile terminal can be effectively controlled in response to a fingernail touch.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile terminals are portable devices, which can provide users with various services such as a voice calling service, a video calling service, an information input/output service, and a data storage service.
As the types of services provided by mobile terminals diversify, an increasing number of mobile terminals have been equipped with various complicated functions such as capturing photos or moving pictures, playing music files or moving image files, providing game programs, receiving broadcast programs and providing wireless internet services and have thus evolved into multimedia players.
Various attempts have been made to realize such complicated functions as hardware devices or software programs. For example, various user interface (UI) environments, in which users are allowed to easily search for and choose desired functions, have been developed. In addition, the demand for various designs for mobile terminals such as a double-sided liquid crystal display (LCD) or a full touch screen has steadily grown due to a growing tendency of considering mobile terminals as personal items that can represent personal individuality.
However, there is a restriction in allocating sufficient space for a UI (such as a display device or a keypad) of a mobile terminal without compromising the mobility and the portability of a mobile terminal. Therefore, it is necessary to develop ways to control the operation of a mobile terminal using a new data input/output method and thus efficiently use a variety of complicated functions provided by the mobile terminal.